Guild Wars 2

So, im thinking of buying the commander tag for my warrior. Im pretty bad at making builds for WvW, so i would love if someone posted a build for my future warrior commander! Im going full PVT for maximum surviveability, using hammer/axe+warhorn. I hear sword is better than axe because of the mobility, but i dont really want to run away from my zerg, however you can try to change my mind about this! Only trait i know i want is the leg mastery, other than that im thinking of shout heals, althought im not sure how much that actually heals with no healing power.

Ok i tried to make a build, so here it is:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIMQNBiODbkzJ5t5xFCHOggeohcxWoKAHpHiBakGA-jUyAofBZqBM5IQZvioxWZLiGryGTXGE1rUtHPIBApA-w

It was a hard choide between -20% cd on shouts or condition removal on warhorn skills, but i ended up with the shout duration trait. Anything i should change in this build? Also, what food should i use?

as to axe vs. sword, if survivability is your goal, maybe mace instead, gives you a block and some hard CC, but sword would currently win in a strictly 2 way race imo

personally, I’d lean toward WH trait rather than the shout CD, but i’m a sucker for the blast finisher

food: again if pure survival to direct your zerg is the goal, probably lemongrass for the -cond duration or mango pie for extra sustain and vit

I’m a roamer but I used to fight in zergs when I first started.

I think you’re finding yourself a little confused with what you want to do.

I used to run a healing shout build with full Knights armour and Clerics trinkets and soldier runes (like you, which is awesome), and I would heal for around 1.7K

The heals without clerics gear are about 1K if I remember correctly so it’s pretty useless for the healing.

Also, why do you want an axe? I thought commanders are supposed to be as surviavable as possible but an axe is a DPS weapon. You have low crit chance so your eviserate will tickle things. Personally I would have said sword for the mobility or mace for the extra CC, so along with the hammer you’ll be a CC machine.

Why do you want to be so tough and survivable and use an axe that’s going to do….. nothing basically.

Also, this is your own preference, but we’re you’ve got Lung Capacity I would go for Quick Breathing as you’re using the warhorn. Seriously that trait is so under-rated its ridiculous. The shouts with soldier just gets rid of conditions, warhorn CONVERTS them into boons, and also I’m not sure if it’s bugged but it converts more than just 1 condition. So if you get hit by that Necro condition spam, you use your warhorn skills and you’re basically a Guardian for a few seconds with every boon in the game. I definitely recommend it, but if you prefer the heals from the shouts to be on slightly shorter cooldown, then go for that (but without clerics it’s not gonna be that uch of a benefit in my opinion).

I’m not sure on food but I thought the lemongrass -condition duration food was pretty much the standard for warriors in WvW, the mango pie or something could be nice too.

Again, this is all based on my own opinion on what I feel a commander should be, someone who is extremely survivable (that means sacrificing DPS) and can buff the team as much as possible. Thing is I admit it is hard being a “support” role, that’s why I chose to become a roamer and kill things myself and take camps etc. If I take the bottom 3 camps on both enemy borderlands on my own, that’s 30 points ahead I’ve put my server just on my own, and because I’m a warrior with a GS and sword I can travel faster than anyone in the game so I do them fast

You don’t really need mobility as a commander, all you want is tanking the kitten out of a zerg.

I would go for Mace+WH and Sword+Shield or Hammer, with improved WH (converting 1 condition into a boon but in fact removing 2 conditions and converting 1).

I would also run a lot of stab (Dolyak’s signet + Balanced stance) to lead the way properly, the elite banner (important for the next WvW update when finishers will earn points !), and finally Healing signet + 3rd skill or Surge + Zerk stance.

Melandru/Lyssa/Hoelbrak runes, Vitality/Toughness is high priority on your stuff and always carry a LB for buffs/siege.

Thanks for the feedback, new build is

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIMQNBiSDbkzJ5t5x4BHOggeohcxWoKAHpHiBbkGA-jUyAofBZqBM5IQZvioxWZLiGryGTXGE1rUtHPIyAwMFA-w

Would love more feedback on this too!

Drop leg spe for Empower Allies surely?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQJASTncO08YyDSBhDZAB9QD5itQVAOSPID0INA-jECB4hBiEAiQAI7pIasVWFRjVNjIqWZDzeuIa1SBwkyI-w

Here’s my self-made, favorite “Commander” build.

Hammer for charging into battle.
Longbow for Sieges/Siege Breaks/Zerg Standoffs.

Shouts + Soldier Runes. Provides buffs, condi removal, and heals to yourself and your zerg. On my mark could be swapped out for Zerker Stance or Balanced Stance depending on what you feel you need.
2k Power/Toughness, 26k health, 1k healing.

You should be tough enough to Charge Headlong into most fights, and have enough staying power to see it through to the end. Longbow brings your ranged option, with combustive and arcing shot being immensely useful in all situations. I cant picture myself playing a non-roamer Build without a longbow.

Your only real shortcoming is a lack of swiftness. Leading a zerg however, you should easily be able to maintain 100% with symbols, and lines everywhere.

Im not that keen on cleric gear… only reason i took shout heals is that i dont really see anything else to use those 10 points on. and longbow, yeah ill have one in my bag. I like the look of leg mastery, but yeah might use empower instead, altho i dont think it would do that much

Zariuss.2357:

Im not that keen on cleric gear

but yeah might use empower instead, altho i dont think it would do that much

The extra healing on clerics gear combined with shouts adds a lot of staying power in long fights and extended. Your soldiers setup adds a little more burst survival, 4k HP, but then again you’ve also got Endure AND Defy. You dont need more burst. The extra clerics gear will add 1k to your L3 Surge, and an extra 1~.5k to your healing shout total. So you’re now only 2.5k lower than full soldier, and the longer the fight continues, the more clerics gear pulls ahead.

Empowered adds up quickly in a Zerg. Leg specialist helps in 1v1 duels.

By the way, I see you run Axe/WH. I’d suggest you switch to Sword/WH instead. Why? Cause Savage Leap (mobility), and Flurry (immob).

When you have a group of teammates, Flurry does WAY more damage than Eviscerate. Evis does a decent burst of damage, but Flurry immobs your foe, which in the middle of a Zerg, is the equivalent of saying “Bend Over.” XD

A favorite strategy of mine is to pinpoint suspected enemy commanders, CTRL-T them so my party can focus, then Savage Leap+Flurry. Bye bye enemy Dorito.

hmm ok, kinda suck tho since i already spent alot of gold and karma on my trinkets… kitten happens i guess. I updated the build longer up and switched axe for mace, but might change it to sword again. Thanks for all the feedback guys!

Ok I changed it up a bit to save me some money and time

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIMQNBiYDbkzJ5t5x4BHOggeohcxWoKAHpHiBbkGA-jkCBofA4hRmaAmcIQZRFRjtyqIasqZJVZDTXSQ2jTQWGAmpA-w

This is what i will use if i dont get any more feedback Thanks for all the help

Man, if you plan to be commander (especially pug zerg commander), you must remember simple thing – if you die, your zerg is done. And you WILL be focused, because of this shiny dorito above your head. So forget about clerics, you must be in full PVT. Try this.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIMQNBiYDbkzpFu5RGCHOggeohVxWoUMH1RSBZwGA-jkCBofA4hRmaAmcIQZPFRjtMqIasKbY6SCyqXJ1jTQWGAmpA-w

It’s a bit of waste to put 2 × 25s CD shouts to heal something like… 1k ?

You should use Zerk stance (8s condition invul with good runes and Lemongrass), and top of it, full adrenaline useful for your heal/your adrenal health/your F1.

And Dolyak’s signet without 20% CDR trait in discipline isn’t that good compared to Balanced stance.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIMQNBiYDbkzJGOFyFCHOggeohcxWoKgHpHkBbEGA-jkCBofCyEDwEIQECA5cFRjtMqIasKbY6SER1W0YecER1yAwMFA-w

(Hive mind Rednik)

You need full bezerkers armor set, ruby orbs, and s/s if you’re a pin on SoR or BG.

Axtozob.4597:

It’s a bit of waste to put 2 × 25s CD shouts to heal something like… 1k ?

You should use Zerk stance (8s condition invul with good runes and Lemongrass), and top of it, full adrenaline useful for your heal/your adrenal health/your F1.

And Dolyak’s signet without 20% CDR trait in discipline isn’t that good compared to Balanced stance.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIMQNBiYDbkzJGOFyFCHOggeohcxWoKgHpHkBbEGA-jkCBofCyEDwEIQECA5cFRjtMqIasKbY6SER1W0YecER1yAwMFA-w

(Hive mind Rednik)

I like that build! I made some small changes to the sigil and armor/trinket types, sentinel armor are way to expensive for me to bother with.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIMQNBiYDbkzJGOFyFCHOggeohcxWoKgHpHkBbEGA-jUCBoLCykDBi+AO7pIaslRFRjVZDTpjIq2iGzjjIqWGAmpA-w

What im not sure about now is the runes… I see melandru seems pretty popular, but 25% less cond duration seems pretty small… There is no point to soldier rune anymore since I dont have any shouts there, so thats out of the window too.

Bah Sentinel is the best but running PVT is quite the same thing !

For the runes, you have the choice between Melandru (-25% condi duration is good but it’s for the -25% stun duration !), Hoelbrak (you don’t run a lot of Might, maybe not that useful) and Lyssa (using your banner = unkillable for a few secs).

Lyssa and Melandru are horribly expensive…

You want soldier for shout builds. Just sayin.

It’s not a shout build anymore

KarlusDavius.1024:

You want soldier for shout builds. Just sayin.

And shouts aren’t just for healing.

Axtozob.4597:

Bah Sentinel is the best but running PVT is quite the same thing !

For the runes, you have the choice between Melandru (-25% condi duration is good but it’s for the -25% stun duration !), Hoelbrak (you don’t run a lot of Might, maybe not that useful) and Lyssa (using your banner = unkillable for a few secs).

Lyssa and Melandru are horribly expensive…

-stun duration dont work on daze/knockdown am i right? If so i dont see much use in that either… most stuns are only 2sec, which melandru only reduces it by 0,5sec which is barely anything in my eyes.

Ferrum’s Unicorn Build.

You’re welcome.

Also, the page is slightly out-dated. Run Cleansing Ire instead of Dodged March.

Viking Jorun.5413:

Ferrum’s Unicorn Build.

You’re welcome.

Also, the page is slightly out-dated. Run Cleansing Ire instead of Dodged March.

Uhh.. ehh… I think ill stay away from this build.

Axtozob.4597:

Bah Sentinel is the best but running PVT is quite the same thing !

For the runes, you have the choice between Melandru (-25% condi duration is good but it’s for the -25% stun duration !), Hoelbrak (you don’t run a lot of Might, maybe not that useful) and Lyssa (using your banner = unkillable for a few secs).

Lyssa and Melandru are horribly expensive…

Lyssa and Melandru runes are quite cheap right now.

Zariuss.2357:

Viking Jorun.5413:

Ferrum’s Unicorn Build.

You’re welcome.

Also, the page is slightly out-dated. Run Cleansing Ire instead of Dodged March.

Uhh.. ehh… I think ill stay away from this build.

Why’s that?

I’d run http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fIEQRApe3XjcOFvJPCQ4wBE0jroK2CThfI9IMGw1A-jkyAo8ioRTMAJHKz0HAKBUOvIas11ioxq0Jiq1LYe8ioVLDA7YA-w on my own preference.

I have Sentinel gear already, so I’d modify my build to this for now, super tanky and supportive, but still not too terrible damage. The luck sigil should grant protection randomly which is nice.

Mistro.3059:

I’d run http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fIEQRApe3XjcOFvJPCQ4wBE0jroK2CThfI9IMGw1A-jkyAo8ioRTMAJHKz0HAKBUOvIas11ioxq0Jiq1LYe8ioVLDA7YA-w on my own preference.

I have Sentinel gear already, so I’d modify my build to this for now, super tanky and supportive, but still not too terrible damage. The luck sigil should grant protection randomly which is nice.

The disadvantage to Sentinel Gear is that you’re unable to upgrade to ascended, taking advantage of even further increased vitality. As of now ascended weapons are the only thing you can upgrade to Sentinel stats (and Quiver of a Thousand Arrows, which may or may not be a bug that the recipe wasn’t locked).

Sorry that is my old PvE build I used to make this one, forgot to get the new link generated: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIEQNApeSncOU8YUQCQgDZAB94KqitQVwOSPCjBcNA-jECBIjERj0fDRjABMnrIaslRFRjVpjIqWvAzjrIa1yAwOGA-w

If you go with ascended soldier accessories you’ll have 200 more attack, 30 more armor, and about 1k less hp than Sentinel exotics. I plan to just stick with Sentinel exotics till Sentinel Ascended armor/possibly accessories come out later this year.

I’ll just stick to the build I posted longer above Only question that remains is, what runes…

Zariuss.2357:

I’ll just stick to the build I posted longer above Only question that remains is, what runes…

Traveller runes? Because you are the commander you don’t want to arrive last to a battle

This is of course a personal opinion and a matter of taste (long read so don’t bother if you aren’t interested):

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIEQNBMhJakzpFOGSFCHOAgU8VVqH2VXcJFixGA-jkCBocDZEZEiABkMAgQAKnrIaslRFRjVpjIqWvAzjrIa1yAwsAA-w

If you’re the commander, then you can’t die. Once you die, the zerglings behind you break up 90% of the time. It is selfish for any commander to try and dps when those points can be spent on survivability. I always see it happening and we know the semi squishy commanders by race/class so we focus them. If you want to dps then you have to go range with dps gear and stay in the middle or hind side of the zerg -though this is less inspiring-.

So you have to maximize your survivability but you have to have another role. Luckily you can maximize your survivabiltiy + cc+ condi removal.

Hammer for cc, 30 into the burst line to get a 7 sec cool down on the hammer AOE stun along with the hammer 3 which is the immobilize. Always start with a hammer 3 because most ppl can dodge the hammer burst since it is easily seen. Hammer 3 then F1. It’s about 3 seconds stun so you have to actively work on CCing every 7 seconds, you can switch the area of the AOE to disrupt the zerg.

Avoid hammer 4 since it knocks back and defeats the purpose of clustering targets for AOE. Hammer 2 and 5 should be saved as they are single target and you should focus on multiple targets as much as possible.

Immediately after hammer 3 and burst, switch to warhorn, use the warhorn 4,5 abilities and you can decide to leap if you need to, switch back to hammer as soon as the timer is up and you should have another 3sec cc ready.

Cycle your weapons fast and you don’t have to use all your weapon abilities. The important thing is you have to burn your hammer burst. Two smart hammer warriors can provide 6 seconds of stun with only 1 second break inbetween every stun duration.

Adrenaline is not an issue with cleansing ire.

Your 2nd job is condi removal and make sure you are immune to condis, any kind of immobilize. That is where sword (mobile strikes) and warhorn (warhorn 4) come in. Lemongrass might be overkill but since you’re the Commander+front of the line you can’t take any chances. You can reduce your condi removal when you feel more comfortable and instead get more hp or toughness from the food.

Stack sigil of life for the extra healing -you aren’t dpsing- and use main and off hand weapons with sigil of life to stack twice as fast. Once you stack, put those weapons in your bag and switch to your actual ones.

Signet of life is great but I’m not sure how good it is vs a big zerg. You might be better off with the big heal.

With soldier gear you will do relatively kitten damage. Might as well go for sentinel. Leave the dps to the ppl behind you with range, you should be a dmg soaker cc/condi removal machine and survive 1st and also do cc and AOE debuffingcondi removal. You will keep the front group free of condis, free of snares and having cced targets to work on.

Mind you, this is a boring build since you are a cc/condi removal bot.

Some people go the 30 into healing for the shouts on the expense of hammer cc pushed to 9 seconds instead of 7 seconds. You also lose fast hands.

I would avoid banner shouts for two reasons: It takes time to drop the banner -unless you run with it- and it is more efficient to use shouts as you can use them on the move. The shouts are getting buffed I think. The banner heal isn’t much compared to your adrenaline heal and signet of life. You can test it out.

You need zerker stance to be almost immune to condis since you will 100% get spammed to death with condis. It is very effective in opening the rush as necros for sure will aim for you. Unfortunately you have to have zerker stance on+ balanced stance -your own or guardian’s- or you will get feared back and cause confusion in your zerglings.
I would suggest having two stabilities available. Either your own or a guardian and save the 2nd one because you might get boon corrupted -smart necros aim for a warrior and boon corrupt-. It is also helpful as a back up once the 1st finishes.

I read that and I agree really. That’s what I think a commander should be, a boring to play, CC and condi removal bot. Personally I’d probably have a mace in my offhand though for the extra CC over the warhorn.

OP I would read the above it you haven’t.

Thank you for the very informative post! But why the signet trait? There is no signet there. I tried to make a little modification to your build:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIMQNBiYDbkzJGOFyFCHOggeohcxWoUgH1RSBZwGA-jUCBoLCykDBi+AO7pIaslRFRjVZDTpjIq2iGzjjIqWGAmpA-w

I traded off sec of earthshaker cd for endure pain at 25% hp, seems pretty usefull.